Beijing signals thaw in EU trade ties after landmark Nordic trip

China laid out a path to addressing deepening frictions with Brussels by calling for boosting trade with the European Union as Foreign Minister Wang Yi wrapped up his charm offensive in Nordic countries.
Beijing “hopes that the EU will remain open, avoid restrictive legislation, relax limitations on exports of high-value products to China, and promote an upward balance in China-EU trade,” according to a statement on Wang’s visit published by Chinese state media on Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing also said the day before that the two sides need to view their trade relationship in a more “positive light.”

The message was in stark contrast to the tone adopted by some officials on the continent in the face of a widening trade deficit with China, with French leader Emmanuel Macron calling the situation “life or death” for European industry after his December visit to Beijing. China’s talking points focus more on the benefits of the free flow of goods and cooperation, as it dangles the prospect of greater access to its domestic market to reduce imbalances.


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Wang made the four-nation trip — including the first visit by a Chinese foreign minister to Denmark in 15 years and the first to Sweden in more than two decades — as trade tensions escalate, with European politicians weighing new measures to address the flood of exports from China. Norway isn’t an EU member, though it has access to the single market through the European Economic Area agreement.

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao earlier called for an “upward balance” in trade during meetings last month with EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche.

He and Sefcovic agreed to set an October deadline to make progress on trade disagreements. However, the two sides remain far apart on how to address disputes, with Beijing reluctant to moderate exports while expressing openness for more imports from the bloc.

In separate remarks published by China’s Commerce Ministry on X after Wang’s meeting with Sefcovic, it said officials focused on three areas “to promote trade balance in an upward, rather than a downward, direction.” Broader cooperation is possible in emerging sectors like AI, it said, while trade in services is among “areas with potential.”

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While EU member states agree on the severe stakes posed by a trade deficit that now exceeds €360 billion ($411 billion), they don’t have the political will to pick a fight with China and reset the trade relationship, Bloomberg reported earlier.

“Wang Yi’s trip is less about solving EU-China trade tensions immediately than about preventing them from escalating into a trade war,” said Zhu Tian, an economist and vice president of the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. “The Nordic countries are useful interlocutors because they are open economies, but they are also security-conscious.”

Zhu said one way to achieve “upward balancing” is for the EU to ease controls by allowing more exports of high-value-added products to China, which would expand bilateral trade and reduce the EU’s deficit.

Wang portrayed China as an indispensable partner rather than an economic competitor during meetings with counterparts and the leaders of the four Nordic countries, including Danish King Frederik X, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

The Chinese Communist Party’s flagship People’s Daily wrote in a commentary Wednesday that the China-EU economic relationship is “fundamentally complementary and mutually beneficial.” It said rising protectionist sentiment in the EU has led some politicians to promote “unfounded claims” of trade imbalances, overcapacity and unfair competition.

Netherlands-based ASML Holding NV is among the more prominent European companies to face strict controls on the export of advanced equipment to China.

“The EU is still holding onto its high-tech innovations like ASML, fearing that if China learns them, it will lose its advantage,” said Wang Yiwei, professor of international relations at Renmin University and a former Chinese diplomat in Europe. “But in reality, the more it holds back, the more China will develop its own technologies, leading to an even larger trade deficit for the EU.”

“The way forward is in cooperation with China in areas such as services trade, intellectual property, and European standards and rules,” he said.